Settling down doesn't mean settling for less.

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Monthly Archives: April 2012

I save everything. Well, everything with sentimental value, which is a lot. Because of that, I’m always looking for new ways to store or display my stored items. I got the idea for this memory box on pinterest, and I think the result was pretty cute. It’s my Admit One box.

I’ve held onto many of the tickets for shows, movies, concerts, exhibits, etc. that Dan and I have seen. Until now, they’ve been strewn around the house on my nightstand, in a pile on a table, or sometimes in a photo album. To make this, I started by gathering up all the stubs I could find. I’m sure in the coming weeks, I’ll find more to add.

Next, I took a trip to Michael’s. I was in luck. All shadowboxes were half off, and then I had a coupon for another 25%. I decided to go with a black shadowbox with a black backing. I wanted the highlight the tickets, not focus on the background of the frame.

I had some shiny silver foil letters, and I thought they would look nice with the black. I centered the letters and stuck them on to the back of the frame. Then, I just dropped the stubs into the shadowbox. I shook the frame a bit, until the tickets were in a configuration I liked, and I popped the back piece back on. Easy to make, and definitely great in helping to reduce ticket stub clutter around the house. Plus, it’s a fun walk down memory lane every time you walk by it.

Every year, our tradition is that he can pick what he wants me to make for his birthday cake. This year, he said he wanted an ice cream cake. I wasn’t sure I could make one better than those from Baskin Robbins, so I decided to try something a little different.

If you know Dan, you know that he loves sandwiches. That’s how I got the idea to make him an ice cream sandwich birthday treat.

It wasn’t too hard at all. I followed this recipe closely (I used the parchment paper and cookie sheet method),

and ended up with a large, dense, wafer like sheet of chocolate. The consistency is somewhere between a hard cookie and a brownie.

Let it cool completely, then cut the sheet into two pieces. Pull out the ice cream, and layer the frozen goodness onto one of the pieces. I found that it was helpful to have the ice cream fairly firm, cut out little section of the ice cream, then layer them onto the baked chocolate part. I never really had to spread the ice cream out that way.

Once you are finished with the ice cream, put the other piece on top and press down gently and evenly, not too hard. Wrap the whole thing in foil and put it in the freezer. The recipe says to leave it for 2 hours, but I left mine for a few days. Pull it out of the freezer, place on a cutting board, and use a pizza cutter to cut into smaller pieces.

In retrospect, I could have added a LOT more ice cream to the sandwiches. It tasted great, very close to the store bought ice cream sandwiches you get.